Korean chemical production firm OCI Holdings has acquired a 65% stake in a Vietnamese solar wafer production plant, intending to export solar wafers to the US.
Today, the company announced that its subsidiary OCI TerraSus has established a Singapore-based special purpose vehicle (SPV) to acquire a 65% stake in a 2.7GW wafer production facility in Vietnam. The site is currently under construction by Elite Solar Power Wafer Co. Ltd.
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The SPV, named OCI ONE, invested around US$78 million in the site, which the company said is worth a total of US$120 million.
The site is expected to be operational by the end of October and commercially producing wafers in “early 2026”. OCI said the site could be expanded to double its capacity, to 5.4GW, with a further US$40 million investment within six months.
The company is specifically targeting shipments to the US, where the Trump administration has imposed strict Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) and Prohibited Foreign Entity (PFE) restrictions on renewable energy supply chains. These affect Chinese imports and products with significant Chinese financial backing, which comprises the overwhelming majority of polysilicon-based solar products.
“This strategic investment brings us closer to building a supply chain that facilitates US exports,” said Woo Hyun Lee, chairman of OCI Holdings. “We will continue to strengthen our presence in the global solar market by fostering partnerships with local companies in Southeast Asia.”
OCI Holdings has its own polysilicon production capacity, via OCI TerraSus, in Malaysia, which it will use to produce wafers in Vietnam.
The company is currently building a US solar cell manufacturing facility in Texas via its subsidiary, Mission Solar. The US$265 million plant is expected to begin production in the first half of 2026.
Though unconfirmed, it is likely that the Vietnamese non-FEOC wafers would be shipped to Mission Solar for cell production in 2026. PV Tech has contacted OCI Holdings for details of its US shipment plans.
OCI is already in a polysilicon supply deal with fellow Korean-backed solar manufacturer, Hanwha Qcells, in the US. In May, polysilicon market analyst Bernreuter Research reported that OCI had returned to profitability after low prices and overcapacity in China had hit the entire global polysilicon market. This is despite OCI Holdings’ decision to delay its Malaysian IPO in April after macroeconomic uncertainty following president Trump’s global tariff regime.
